(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Jake Gyllenhaal says the sex scenes in his new film were essential to the story.

The 30-year-old actor stars opposite Anne Hathaway in the comedy drama Love and Other Drugs, which charts the romantic relationship between a free-spirited woman named Maggie and a charming pharmaceutical sales rep named Jamie.

Jake and Anne filmed various sex scenes for the film and even posed together naked on the front cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine to promote the movie, but Jake has reiterated that the graphic nature of the scenes were important to the overall theme of the film.

He believes that in order to maintain credibility, all aspects of normal life must be incorporated into an accurate portrayal, including the more intimate moments.

I think one of the essential elements of a love story is sex, and it should be. And if we were gonna be as open and intimate as we could be wed have to do the same thing with sex. How can you believe these people are in love if they dont wanna be naked around one another? I dont know about you guys but Ive never had sex with boxers on, its an odd thing, he told Cover Media. That was really important to us, somewhere in somebodys unconscious that we were two people in love, not just actors telling a love story. (C) Cover Media